Tag: birdhouses

Pheathers – Nesting Part II

On By TimelessladyIn Pheathers2 Comments

Now is the time to check the hanging apparatus of your birdhouses and clean out those with removable bottoms. This winter, the wire loop hanging my birdhouse from a tree limb, rusted through, and allowed the birdhouse to fall to the ground. Thankfully, it didn’t have any occupants. This Spring I’ll be sure to use a wire that will not rust.

Broken wire
Broken wire

If you paint your own wooden birdhouses be sure to choose one that is made of durable wood and is screwed together rather than glued.

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I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s a good tip, and after my birdhouse has hung outside for two seasons, I know it works. To keep gnawing rodents, such as chipmunks and squirrels from breaking into your birdhouse, surround the hole with tacks, staples, or anything else indestructible that can be fastened tightly to the wood.

Staples surrounding birdhouse entrance.
Staples surrounding birdhouse entrance.

The staples keep the pesky rodents from chewing through the wood.

Project – Birdhouse

On By TimelessladyIn Projects1 Comment

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When I hang a new birdhouse in my yard it is often filled by a nesting wren. I love wrens. After one has claimed the new house for a home the air is soon filled with trills, chattering and even scolding sounds when I venture too near. A week or two ago as I cleaned last year’s birdhouse, I noticed the seams of the roof had warped and widened. I knew if I left it in place the wrens would have to deal with a very leaky roof.

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Happily, my local craft store had a special on birdhouses, and since I have plenty of acrylic craft paint on hand, adding two new birdhouses to the yard only involved a few dollars and a bit of time.

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I was happy to see the bottoms of the birdhouses were attached with screws rather than nails. The birdhouses should be cleaned out before the start of the nesting season.

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I coated the birdhouses with primer. In the past I have used acrylics on the bare wood, but I had the primer on hand and wisely used that first. I was pleasantly surprised to find that by using primer I only needed one coat of the more expensive acrylic paint.

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I finished the houses and hung them in place by using four screw eyes on the roof and doubled floral wire.

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Most important for me was protecting the entry to the house from gnawing predators. This has been quite a problem for me in the past. I hammered in a ridge of heavy staples around the edge of the doorway. This should discourage the attempts of the most feisty of squirrels or chipmunks.

Update: April 24, 2013 – SUCCESS! This afternoon I heard the singing  and trilling of a wren. Sure enough, when I investigated, all the “wren-talk” was sounding from the trumpet vine bush shown in the first photograph. I spied a wren perched atop the house with a small stick in her mouth…definitely nest-making material. O Happy Day! The new birdhouse will have a resident wren family.